Maa Nanna Superhero

Maa Nanna Superhero (transl. “My Dad is a Superhero”) is a 2024 Telugu family drama co-written and directed by Abhilash Reddy Kankara, starring Sudheer Babu, Sayaji Shinde, Sai Chand and Aarna. Sunil Balusu produced it under V Celluloids and VR Global Media with CAM Entertainment, and it released in theatres on 11 October 2024. Our record lists a running time of 127 minutes.

What the story is about

Sudheer Babu plays a son caught between two fathers: Sayaji Shinde as the man who adopted and raised him, and Sai Chand as his biological father. As the trailer showed, the film follows his struggle to forge a bond with the father he never knew, and critics described it as a road-trip drama about love, sacrifice and redemption. Wikipedia’s synopsis keeps it to one line, “a soul-stirring journey discovering the true meaning of love and family connection”, and so will we.

Cast

• Sudheer Babu as Johnny
• Sayaji Shinde as Srinivas, the adoptive father
• Sai Chand as Prakash, the biological father
• Aarna as Tara
• Shashank as Arshad, a lottery ticket dealer
• Aamani as Srinivas’s wife
• Harsha Vardhan as Rashid
• Venkat as a circle inspector
• Raju Sundaram, Jhansi, Annie, Chandra Vempaty and Vishnu Oi

Making of the film

Abhilash Kankara had earlier directed the TV series Loser, and he wrote this script with MVS Bharadwaj and Shravan Madala. The title was announced on Father’s Day, 18 June 2023, with the cast and crew; Sayaji Shinde, who had worked with the director on Loser, was cast as the adoptive father. Filming wrapped on 5 September 2023. Sameer Kalyani shot the film and Anil Kumar P edited it, and the censor board passed it with a U certificate. Jay Krish composed the music; the singles “Nanna” and “Vedukalo” came out on 19 and 28 September 2024. Mahesh Babu unveiled the trailer, according to Times Now.

What critics said

Critics agreed on the performances and differed on the script. Suhas Sistu of The Hans India was the most positive, at three and a quarter stars, praising how it balances drama, emotion and a subtle love story. Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India (three stars) called it “a decent family drama” held back by a predictable plot and uneven pacing. Swaroop Kodur of The Hollywood Reporter India found it “slightly overripe” but effective as “an affectionate relationship procedural”.

Others were cooler. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu said Sudheer Babu and Sai Chand anchor “an uneven relationship drama that scores in a few segments”. BH Harsh of The New Indian Express credited the director’s flair for poignant moments but wished for a more coherent script, and Times Now’s Sashidhar Adivi (two and a half stars) felt the writing “looks far from complete”. We have found no reliably sourced box-office figure.

Where to watch Maa Nanna Superhero

Maa Nanna Superhero streams on ZEE5. The platform’s own listing confirms it; we do not have the date it began streaming on file.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Maa Nanna Superhero and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; the ZEE5 listing; our own cast and crew records.